Medical Group Calls for Action on BPA

â€”the ubiquitous, estrogen mimicking, plastic hardener used in baby bottles, sippy cups, and the liners of canned food products to cardiac problems in women. The research was presented at this weekâ€™s ENDO 09, the Endocrine Societyâ€™s annual meeting. Now, for the first time in its history, the group issued a scientific statement concerning the adverse effects posed by the dangerous toxin, said USA Today.

The group said hormone-disrupting chemicals, which can be found in plastics, pesticides, and other products, pose “significant concern for public health,” which could cause â€œinfertility, cancer and malformations,â€ reported USA Today, adding that the group also said that compelling evidence exists showing that hormonal system interferences could lead to significant health problems, citing the Society.

Industry has long argued BPA is safe at current levels; however, despite its assertions to the contrary, the plastic additive has been linked to an increased risk of brain, reproductive, cardiac, and immune system diseases and disorders; problems with liver function testing; and interruptions in chemotherapy treatment. BPA is also associated with serious health problems based on over 200 studies which found it to have negative effects at â€œvery low doses,â€ lower than the Food & Drug Administrationâ€™s (FDA) current safety standards.

Studies also revealed BPA stays in the body longer than previously believed and, according to an earlier LA Times piece, a study confirmed what experts have also long suspected, containers made with BPA leach the chemical into the liquids being held, even when not heated.

The FDA has long maintained that BPA is safe despite that the agency relied solely on two industry-funded studies for its draft review, something for which the FDA has been severely criticized. Regardless, use of the â€œenvironmental pollutant with estrogen activityâ€ (described by Science Daily) is being met with growing and fierce opposition.

Wisconsin just became the third state to introduce a bill to ban BPA-containing baby bottle and sippy cup sales for children. Earlier this month, California voted on a similar bill that is in the Assembly, and New Yorkâ€™s Suffolk County, Chicago, Minnesota, and Connecticut all have similar bans in effect. Key members in the U.S. House and Senate introduced legislation for a federal ban on BPA in all food and beverage containers, and 24 states have bills in the works to restrict the toxin; Canada was the first country to announce plans to ban BPA, calling it a toxin, and newly appointed FDA commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, said the agency is reconsidering its decision that BPA is safe at current levels, especially those found in baby bottles.

Redacted dvdrip USA today pointed out that USA’s National Toxicology Program last year expressed “some concern” over BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses and children; the prior year, 38 key researchers published a statement about BPAâ€™s serious risks. Endocrine Society president, Robert Carey said, these chemicals “affect everyone,” noting what has long been reported: The vast majorityâ€”over 90 percentâ€”of Americans test positive for BPA exposure, said USA Today.

The society also pointed out some new information, namely that hormone disrupters act differently than other toxins, in which danger is related to the amount of the toxin introduced in the body, according to Andrea Gore, author of the new statement from the University of Texas at Austin, said USA Today. But, since the human body is â€œexquisitely sensitive to hormones,â€ said Gore, even at small doses and at critical developmental windowsâ€”in utero, for exampleâ€”the effect can be significantly more adverse, reported USA Today, with damage passing to future generations.